Peavey ReValver MKIII

Until now, consumer amp-modeling software has been developed bycompanies whose specialty was, well, software. Peavey is the first ampmanufacturer to jump whole hog into the software pool. With decades ofexperience building amplifiers, the Mississippi company bringsfirst-hand tube-tone knowledge to the table. Guitar legends from EddieVan Halen to Joe Satriani have turned to them for signature sounds, andask any pro about the company’s underrated Classic series. ReValverMKIII is Peavey’s launch into the world of virtual amplifiers, and itoffers fresh perspectives on an increasingly popular guitarist’s tool.

ReValver installed easily into a Macintosh Power PC G5 and a Macbook Pro laptop. I ran the program both standalone, and as a plug-in in Ableton Live 7. For the G5, I interfaced with an M-Audio 1814 Firewire unit, entering the laptop through a Native Instruments USB Audio Konnect.

ReValver appears on your screen as a virtual drag-and-drop rack like Guitar Rig (Fig. 1) . Amps include Peavey’s, 6505, 6505+, ValveKing, Classic 30, JSX and Triple XXX models. Other amps are not directly named, but alluded to either by name or visuals, such as “Flathill” with its Mesa Rectifier appearance, the Fender-ish “Bass 100,” the Vox replica “Fox,” the “Matchbox” miming the Matchless, and the Marshall duo of the “Bluesmaker,” and the “ACM 900.” Boutique models such as the “Homebrew 1 and 2,” and the “Le Petite” were developed exclusively for ReValver. Also available are separate preamp and power amp modules so you can mix a Fox preamp section with a JSX power amp, etc.

Calling up a preset amp model launches an appropriate speaker/mic combination in the Convolution Speaker Simulation module. Each of these speaker/mic configurations is modeled from recordings of the actual speaker cabinets, using a specific mic and mic position. You can choose the same cabinet with a different mic choice and placement if you wish. Convolution is CPU hungry so the software provides a button labeled Resample to reduce the module’s appetite while retaining most of the detail. In addition, ReValver offers a less CPU intensive, more tweakable, Speaker Construction Set module (Fig. 2). Here, you can individually adjust the width, height, and depth of the cabinet; the type and number of speakers; the mic model, and its distance and angle from the source. In both speaker modules you can adjust the highs, lows, and speaker distortion and crunch levels. You may have heard of speaker breakup, but still not be clear as to what these last two parameters mean. Peavey says they affect a complex combination of speaker parameters, and will likely be renamed in the final version. The Convolution module would be easier to use if all the 1x12, 2x12, etc. cabinets were listed together, instead of grouped in an esoteric system understood by the developers alone, but all the basic configurations are available and then some (8x12 anyone?)

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